Do You Have The "It" Factor?

When talking about careers, we often look at who the role models are for that career. We wrote a post on this a couple of weeks ago. What makes successful people successful? We analyzed global socioeconomic reasons, biological reasons and dedicated practice reasons. Through our in-depth look at successful people, we determined that there are a number of factors that lead to you becoming world-class.

But what if this is too complex? Can't we define success in a career as something simpler? And in a broader context, success in life? Today we are going to talk about people who look natural at what they do. I'm sure you know who we are talking about. Have you ever gone to a live sporting event and stood at the level of the players and watched them warm up? Hockey players skate better than most people walk, football players catch footballs like they have glue on their gloves, golfers on the range look like they are swinging a feather around. How come? Why do these athletes look so effortless?

Apply this to any career you would like. Take painting or drawing. Certain individuals can replicate your face or figure in a matter of minutes (walk down any popular street in a city to see these artists in action). Pianists can listen to something played on the radio and immediately begin to replicate it. Powerful business leaders can articulate their vision in a way that their employees cannot. And it goes on and on.

What is this factor that makes something so effortless? For the purpose of the article, we are going to call this the "it" factor. And in order to explain it, we are going to revisit some of the things we have talked about in our previous posts. By doing this we can hopefully begin to understand how to unlock our "it" factor so that we can be naturally good at what we do. Let's begin.

Take a look at the image below. It's an image of the hedgehog concept, which we have spoken about previously. 

 

Hedgehog

Take a close look at the three circles above. We mainly talk about the passion circle here at Sokanu, but all three are equally important. After all, if you love to paint, but realistically aren't very good at it, you probably won't end up making much money doing it. Flip that around as well. There are a lot of investment bankers on Wall Street that make a ton of money, are good at what they do, but are not even close to being passionate about it. So we can see that in order to be successful, we need to fulfill all three of these circles.

But take a look at the red point in the middle of the circles. They label that as "the hedgehog concept". That is a bit misleading, as that is what the whole concept is called. The red circle is in fact the "it" factor we are talking about.

When you are passionate about something and are good at it, we describe that combination as being "a natural". This is because we don't look awkward doing it. But you must have both of those elements. If you want an example of why passion won't carry you all the way through, check out this video of American Idol contestants. Some of these auditions may be a joke, but many are not. There are always a high percentage of people who show up and truly believe they are good at what they do. They always explain that "they have been singing since the age of three" and how passionate they are about singing. But they don't have the "it" factor. That takes so much more. Generally, the "it" factor consists of being able to: have a natural singing ability, be unique, have a stage presence, deal with the media maturely, deal with large amount of pressure, etc...

Everyone has a natural ability in something. And generally when you combine this natural ability with hard work and the goal of becoming the best, you are financially rewarded. The key is not to force yourself into something you don't really feel comfortable doing. You know in your gut whether or not the career you are pursuing is right for you. Even if you don't know what is right for you (yet), knowing what you don't like is key. This is why school is such a perfect time to explore your career opportunities, connect with like-minded individuals and shape your goals for life. The ability to try a variety of things, picking between what you like and don't like, is an amazing opportunity. Make sure not to waste it.

Overall, if you want to be the best in the career that you have chosen, try to pick something you feel natural doing. If that is giving presentations with financial spreadsheets, go into business and dominate your sector. If the thought of opening Excel gives you nightmares, but walking on your hands seems easy and natural, consider going into gymnastics. Because even though you can hone your "it factor" as you progress through life, you still need to have a natural ability at what you do. Otherwise you will always be fighting an uphill battle.